The Effort by Claire Holroyde

The Effort is a terrifying book about the realities of life on earth when it is on a collision course with a comet that could destroy all life on the planet. There are a number of pov characters as the event is explored through the eyes of scientists, engineers and astronomers, a wildlife photographer and more, each one approaching the impending disaster in their own way. Some seek to save the world, some seek to profit off it’s inevitable destruction in the little time they have left and some seek to hasten it to that end. We follow the story from the discovery of the meteor to the somewhat predictable solution and then very briefly glimpse the world after the ‘solution’.

The characters are interesting and set in the here and now, though most characters seem to be a somewhat extreme representation of the politics in America. If a scientist speaks to someone that is not a scientist you can almost guarantee that person will be an anti vaxxer, someone who doesn’t ‘watch the news’ or someone who foresaw the end coming and has an underground bunker already to go. It’s a little extreme but it also reminded me a little bit of the end of Ender’s Game where the second the Aliens are defeated at the end the humans faction up and start fighting each other. The Effort absolutely holds a mirror up to the division in American society at the moment, though I would have liked to see some more moderate examples of humanity. That being said this feels like an important read and one more people should experience as it really does cover some very relevant issues from enough povs to ensure there is something for everyone.

The Effort is a real page turner, sets a good pace and fans of apocalyptic fiction will love it. Personally I would have loved to read a little more about the after as we are only really given a quick taste but I’d much rather be left wanting more than the alternative, maybe we can hope for a sequel!

Thanks to Orbit books for sending me a review copy.